Week 1 Eco 365

Oil ECO/365 †Principles of Microeconomics Oil In today’s economy numerous patterns in utilization examples can figure out where the gracefully and requests are required. In the article â€Å"East Bay Oil Exports Have Become Huge Business,† by Glantz (2012), it addresses the subject of patterns and utilization of oil. Numerous individuals know; anyway overlook that there is a ton of oil around us that can be used.This paper will talk about and address the utilities determined, the change that interest for the item or administration of market and balance costs, what has happened to change the interest and flexibly of the oil, and is interest for oil item or administration value versatile or inelastic. As indicated by Glantz (2012), the utilities got from the article have to do with the manner in which the network devours the oil that is being utilized. At the point when the gas costs are up there is a need for the oil or fuel and it will in all likelihood cause the c osts to go down.In differentiate, when the costs of the oil go down, there will be all the more an interest and a potential lack of oil in light of the fact that the interest would have been extraordinary. As indicated by Glantz (2012), the expanded of oil send out from the East Bay was connected to the monetary changes and the manner in which people are expending in the United States. Likewise, in the West Coast they additionally observed indistinguishable increment popular for oils from the interest for residential utilized was lowered.For model: higher gas costs, fabricates vehicle that are eco-friendly and less people driving to and from work have all added to the adjustments in the interest for such oils utilization. Furthermore, the economy and people losing their employment likewise changed the interest since they not, at this point expected to drive to work. In this manner, the interest for oils was not, at this point required making the costs of the fuel increment. * Accord ing to Colanderâ (2010), the market and balance changes that have happened to the flexibly (oil) by expecting that the interest remained the same.It uncovered that it caused a major change to the cost. The less buyers utilized the item the more the value rose causing an adjustment in the market. At the point when the costs changed and started to rise, the shoppers utilized different techniques for getting to places they expected to abandon utilizing oil or their vehicles. * It is my conclusion that oil gracefully can either be versatile or inelastic. As per Colanderâ (2010), flexible is the point at which the gracefully or request rate changes in amount is a lot bigger than the rate change in the price.On the other hand, inelastic is the point at which the rate changes in the amount are a lot of lower than the rate change in the cost. The oil flexibly can be versatile on the grounds that now and again when the costs rise individual will attempt to safeguard and us other choice to not need to follow through on the greater cost making the gracefully of oil be expanded. The other way around, the oil flexibly can likewise be inelastic on the grounds that individual are continually going to require fuel for their vehicle so as to get from direct A toward point B. All in all, regardless of the expense or deficiency of the gracefully, a few people or buyers will consistently pay what is required so as to get where they have to go. Oil is one flexibly that will consistently be required for either our vehicles, our food, or for exportation to different organizations. Reference Glantz, A. (2012, Marchâ 8). East Bay Oil Exports Have Become Huge Business. THe New York Times. Recovered from http://www. nytimes. com/2012/03/09/us/oil-trades have-become-gigantic business-in-the-san-francisco-straight region. html? _r=0 Colander, D. C. (2010). Financial matters (eighth ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. *

Social and Economic Problems of the Arab World

There Is Always Something Left to Love About Gabriel Garcia Marquez

There Is Always Something Left to Love About Gabriel Garcia Marquez There is always something left to love is a line from what is undoubtedly Gabriel Garcia Marquezs most well-known work,  One Hundred Years of Solitude. As I sat down to write this, I looked for something of his that I could use as a starting point. This line stood out to me. I dont remember the context exactly, but I remember how I was always finding new ways to complete the sentence. I appropriated that line on many occasions to remind myself to keep looking for something positive. Here, on the occasion of his passing at age 87, I use it to remind myself that there was more to his body of work than that one novel. ____________________ I hadnt planned on taking Spanish in high school. The plan was to take Latin, a class taught by a friends mom, with a group of friends. And I did. But I also fell down an internet rabbit hole while searching for Latin poetry and discovered Pablo Neruda. His work made me want to learn to speak Spanish, so the next year, I signed up for Spanish I. I ended up with 3 years of Spanish under my belt, and in every class the textbook included something from or about Garcia Marquez. In Spanish II, we had to read a story called Un dia de estos or One of These Days. I did my best with it, but I wasnt quite sure that I had understood, so I set out on my first translation project. I pulled out the dictionary, consulted the conjugation charts in the back of my textbook, and I wrote out the whole thing. It wasnt a good translation by any means, but I got a pretty good feel for the story. And for its author. ____________________ The first time that I came across Garcia Marquez outside of a Spanish textbook was in a college comparative lit class. We were talking about genres that were popular at different times and in different parts of the world. To open our discussion on Magical Realism, the teacher  shared a story called Light is Like Water.  It was the most amazing story. I found myself getting all wrapped up in it, floating along with the boys on their sea of light. It took a couple of readings before most of the class could wrap their heads around it, and even then they could not quite suspend their disbelief enough to appreciate the beauty of that story, the sheer elegance of what can happen when a child confuses a simile for a metaphor. ____________________ Garcia Marquez  was Colombian, and much of his work was set in that country, but he spent his later years in Mexico, and the people there adopted him as their own. I didnt realize just how deeply their connection to him ran until I visited Mexico City and found his books at every roadside bookseller that I passed.  My first purchase was a thin volume, with a mostly white cover and an orange spine called  Memoria de mis putas tristes (Memories of My Melancholy Whores). I picked it up, since it looked unfamiliar and the price was right. I filed it away to be read later, with the intention of buying an English copy to refer to when my confidence in my Spanish abilities waned. I was a surprised in both good and bad ways when I discovered that it was new and hadnt yet been translated. Its the first book Ive ever read completely in Spanish without deferring to a dictionary every few words or checking my comprehension with a professional translation. I even wrote about it in graduate scho ol. It was the first time Id ever written an essay completely in Spanish without at least making notes in English first. I engaged with text and with the language in a way that I had never done before, and it felt amazing. I was proud. I still havent read it in English. ____________________ When I heard about his passing, I went to my bookshelf, and I pulled down every title that I could find. I found the two copies of  One Hundred Years of Solitude  that my sister got for me one Christmas, one in English and one in Spanish. I found the copy of  Love in the Time of Cholera  that had been sitting in storage the last few years, along with the copy that I bought to replace it, assuming it had been lost. There were English and Spanish versions of his autobiography, that book I picked up on the street in Mexico, and a copy of his collected stories. I bought that not long before I left Tennessee, with the intention of reading every story that had escaped me over the years. But it got packed into a box and sat in storage until very recently. I had forgotten that I had it. That  night, I opened it up and turned to a random story. I read words from him that I had never read before, and I felt like I was discovering him for the first time. Im going to put the book back on the she lf for now. Ill take it down again when I feel the urge to rediscover the man who made such important contributions to my life as a reader, a writer, and a scholar. Ill find another story, and Ill return to his world. Sign up to Unusual Suspects to receive news and recommendations for mystery/thriller readers.

accounting theory Essay - 1980 Words

3101AFE Accounting Theory and Practice Tutorial Questions for Tutorials 1- 6: Semester 2 2014 TUTORIAL 1 - Semester 2 2014 Deegan Topic 1: Introduction to financial accounting theory QUESTION 1 - Question 1.8: What is the difference between developing a theory by induction and developing a theory by deduction? QUESTION 2 - Question 1.9: Is the study of financial accounting theory a waste of time for accounting students? Explain your answer. QUESTION 3 - Question 1.26: Would you reject as ‘insignificant and useless’ a positive theory of accounting on the basis that in a particular research study the results derived failed to support the hypotheses and the related theory? Explain your answer. QUESTION 4 – Question†¦show more content†¦You are required to do the following: (a) Explain from a public interest theory perspective the rationale for the government introducing the legislation and how the government will ultimately assess whether any proposed legislation should actually be introduced. (b) Predict from a capture theory perspective the types of constituents that will benefit in the long run from any social and environmental disclosure legislation. (c) Predict from an economic interest group theory perspective whether any potential legislation to be introduced will lead to an increase in the accountability of corporations in relation to their social and environmental performance despite any implications that this increased corporate accountability might have for the financial success of large but heavily polluting organisations. TUTORIAL 3 - Semester 2 2014 Deegan Topics 4 and 5: International accounting and The conceptual framework project QUESTION 1 - Question 4.19: It is often argued that the accounting standards of the FASB are rule-based, whereas the accounting standards issued by the IASB are principles-based. Rules-based standards by their nature can be quite complex, particularly if they seek to cover as many situations as possible. Do you think it would be easier to circumvent the requirements of rules-basedShow MoreRelatedPositive Accounting Theory2425 Words   |  10 PagesCompare and contrast normative and positive accounting approaches: Definition of PAT: Watts and Zimmerman (1986) defined Pat as a theory that seeks to explain and predicts particular phenomenon. It is concerned with explaining accounting practice. The three basic hypotheses as outlined by Watts and Zimmerman (1978) underlying PAT are: 1. Bonus plan hypothesis: The bonus plan hypothesis is that managers of firms with bonus plans are more likely to use accounting methods that increase current period reportedRead MoreAccounting Theory And Management Accounting2580 Words   |  11 PagesThough forms of managerial accounting practices can be traced back decades, centuries even, management accounting used to be regarded as a financial tool, advantageous for the financial managers. However, over the past three decades views on management accounting have changed. As Kaplan (1994) states management accounting theory has experienced a revolution in both theory and practice with the development of new innovations. Through advances in information technology, more competitive markets andRead MorePositive Accounting Theory Essay1195 Words   |  5 PagesWhittington notes, they are two of the most widely discussed contributors to the accounting literature of the past decade (1989, p. 327). They are also the joint founder-editors of The Journal of Accou nting and Economics, a journal devoted to positive accounting research, which has achieved an international reputation. So their story, while admittedly controversial, has achieved credibility among a significant number of accounting researchers. But what accounts for that credibility? According to WattsRead MoreThe Theory Of Accounting Fraud3500 Words   |  14 PagesA number of cases of fraudulent accounting have been reported over the last fifty years. However, in each case the manner in which the fraud was perpetrated was different In the UK there is no legal definition of fraud (Levi, Information Gathering Working Party and Doig, 1999). Black’s Law Dictionary (1999) defines fraud as â€Å"a knowing misrepresentation of the truth or concealment of a material fact†. When we apply this to the world of accountancy there can be confusion between fraud and ‘creativeRead MoreAccounting Theory6586 Words   |  27 Pagesother relevant materials to justify your viewpoint. INTRODUCTION Accounting can be broadly defined as the ‘measurement and communication’ of economic information to the decision makers (Watts and Zimmerman 1986). Accounting is divided into internal and external accounting on the basis of the users of the information (Spohr 2005). Spohr (2005) further highlights that the responsibility for preparing the external accounting information and publishing it lies with the managers of the firm. TheseRead MoreAccounting Theory- Stakeholders1220 Words   |  5 PagesCurrent Issues in Accounting, South Melbourne: Cengage Learning Freeman RE. 1984. Strategic Management: a Stakeholder Approach. Pitman: Boston, MA Haigh, N., amp; Griffiths, A. (2009). The natural environment as a primary stakeholder: The case of climate change.  Business Strategy and the Environment,  18(6), 347. Retrieved from: http://ezproxy.waikato.ac.nz/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/213770085?accountid=1728 Mitchell RK, Agle BR, Wood DJ. 1997. Toward a theory of stakeholder identificationRead MoreAccounting Theory and Practice Essay2225 Words   |  9 Pagesreached about what perspective theories should be used to explain the Social and Environmental Accounting, and moreover critique voices are from the works of Marx or by the deep-green or feminist literatures (Deegan, 2002), to some extent, systems-oriented theory and Positive Accounting Theory can list some hints. This essay will seek to explain the reasons why firms voluntary disclosure information by referring to Legitimacy theory, Stakeholder theory, institutional theory, and lastly Political CostsRead MoreA Research On Positive Accounting Theory2273 Words   |  10 Pagespositive accounting hypothesis (PAT) estimates that, in flawed markets, accounting decision may be controlled by directors looking to impact reported income and capital structure (Watts and Zimmerman, 1978). Specifically, the positive accounting hypothesis (PAT) contends that accounting decisions are liable to be spurred by components, for example, supervisors extra arranges, the company s obligation/value proportions and the more extensive political impact of outsiders (Watts and Zimmerman, 1978;Read MorePositive vs Normative Accounting Theory Essay1032 Words   |  5 Pageswith planning) TOPIC: Discuss positive accounting theory and contrast it with normative accounting theory. Provide examples where appropriate.       The purpose of this essay is to provide an overview of positive accounting theory (PAT) and highlight how this theory differs to normative accounting theory. Definitions and assumptions of both theories will be considered and examples of the theories will be provided. In addition specific theories related to PAT namely agency and the efficientRead MoreThe Imporance of Accounting Theory to the Field of Accounting1912 Words   |  8 PagesThe Importance of Accounting Theory to the Field Of Accounting The objective of theory is to explain and predict. One of the basic goals of the theory of a particular discipline is to have a well-defined body of knowledge that has been systematically accumulated, organized, and verified well enough to provide a frame of reference for future actions. The Webster’s definition of theory is the systematically organized knowledge, applicable in a relatively wide variety of circumstances, a system

Top Guide of Samples of Essay Writing in Ielts

Top Guide of Samples of Essay Writing in Ielts When you are requested to compose an essay, attempt to locate some samples (models) of similar writing and learn how to observe the craft of the writer. Relevance of literature review The sample has to be in a position to aid the reader to recognize the crucial features of literature review. Question Yourself Before you compose an essay you should question yourself about the subject of the essay. The essay will be far more readable when the reader is aware of what to anticipate from the body paragraphs. Creative essays should have a topic. Writing a hero essay ought to be fairly simple. Narration is telling a story from a particular viewpoint, and there is generally a reason behind the telling. When you compose a narrative essay, you're telling a story. A lengthier essay has room for increased detail. The essay you're likely to write should also interest the readers, so the purpose of the essay is going to be achieved. If you're to really gain from model essays, you want to understand how to read the techniques of the writer'. In case the author is an individual, then their very first name is used first. The capability to compose a great essay begins with careful and effective planning. When you have gathered ideas on this issue, you must properly set your thoughts into words. When you're able to locate the answers then you're on a good beginning towards writing a fantastic essay Research your subject When given a topic we require a lot of material to have a notion of what things to write. For writing a good-quality essay you require specific wisdom and ways of building the suitable structure. Bear in mind, it's important to continue to keep things smooth and efficient. Any subtle misalignments in the plan, or possibly a misalignment with the design and the form of the label itself is a terrible sign. It's highly probable that you aren't going to have the ability to learn all new English words, so you need to compose your mind which types of new words you need to pay focus on. On occasion a superior illustration of what you're attempting to achieve is well worth a 1000 words of advice! So you need to compose an essay for whichever one that you pick, but the other part is different based on which module you're taking. Don't be concerned about a few of them being rather abstract their principal purpose is to reveal to you the basic principles that you'll have the ability to transfer to your own writing. One must work hard in life, in order to accomplish his objectives. Essay Writing Skills can be gotten through various approaches. Essay writing skills is a hard and time-consuming job. Besides the writing test samples, it is also possible to see our guide on how to get ready for IELTS writing test. Below you'll find all you want to attain a high score in IELTS Writing Task 2. In conclusion, it looks like assignment essays continue to get a prominent part in tertiary education as an assessment tool. Nonetheless, the author should show intelligence through the wisdom of the subject along with virtue and goodwill. Adding a number of the winning elements from the sample essays below will supply you with the additional marks you want to be a high-scorer on the IELTS. The students may face hindrances in the event the dissertation sample turns out to be of sub-standard and does not satisfy the criteria of skilled writing. Initially you might want to check at the image quality of the sample labels you could be viewing. You may use the samples as a foundation for working out how to write in the proper style. It is critical to try to bear in mind that each one of your sources of information needs to be cited accordingly and therefore your work isn't going to become plagiarized. Clearly, every approach differs.

Online Enrollment Related Study Free Essays

I was able to use the student enrollment system of University of Ulster for the first time and it was a WEB based enrollment system/application. A web application or web app is an application that is accessed via the Internet or an Intranet. Web applications are popular due to ubiquity of the client. We will write a custom essay sample on Online Enrollment Related Study or any similar topic only for you Order Now The ability to update and maintain web applications without distributing and installing software on potentially thousands of client computers are key reasons for their popularity. A significant advantage of building web applications to support a standard browser feature is the ability to perform as specified, regardless of the operating system installed on a given client and it enables the students, faculty, and administrators of the institution to gain 24-hour access and use to the proposed system via a client computer without any needs of installing or distributing any software. The Automated Enrollment System of University of Ulster aims for an accurate, user friendly, efficient system that can help both the student and personnel for fast data processing of enrollment. And now we are going to talk whether we have achieved that aim or not. I was able to use the student enrollment system of University of Ulster for the first time and it was a WEB based enrollment system/application. A web application or web app is an application that is accessed via the Internet or an Intranet. Web applications are popular due to ubiquity of the client. The ability to update and maintain web applications without distributing and installing software on potentially thousands of client computers are key reasons for their popularity. A significant advantage of building web applications to support a standard browser feature is the ability to perform as specified, regardless of the operating system installed on a given client and it enables the students, faculty, and administrators of the institution to gain 24-hour access and use to the proposed system via a client computer without any needs of installing or distributing any software. How to cite Online Enrollment Related Study, Papers

The Vicissitude of Faith in Night by Elie Wiesel free essay sample

The Vicissitude of Faith in Night When we’re young and we have a toy or a play thing, we get angry if that thing is taken away from us; we throw a tantrum. This is because the toy retains our focus and interest, and then it’s just ripped away. Elie Wiesel was prematurely ripped from his world of family and faith, forced to the infamous concentration camp of Auschwitz to wither away along with the burned remains of his past and hopes. The drastic change from Wiesel’s rendition of his experiences during the Holocaust, Night, portrays many themes throughout the entirety of its pages, with one of the most prominent themes being Elie’s own faith and its vicissitude over time, of which is seen in the early years of his life where he was devout to his religion, to the train ride and arrival at Auschwitz where he begs God to help, ending in the death of his God as the children are hung, and the total rejection of a God altogether. We will write a custom essay sample on The Vicissitude of Faith in Night by Elie Wiesel or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As a child, before the Holocaust, Wiesel was a fervent and dedicated Jew. Early in the pages of Night, Wiesel recalls a question that his father had asked him. â€Å" ‘Why do you pray? ’ he asked me, after a moment. Why did I pray? A strange question. Why did I live? Why did I breathe? † (Wiesel 2). Wiesel’s life is centered around his religion; he finds it completely abstruse for his father to question his praying, because praying is what he does. Praying, faith, Judaism; all these things are his toys. Wiesel doesn’t just worship to worship, he worships because that is the thing he gets to play with. Imagine if these toys were taken away from him? These are just any toys, these toys are essential to his sanity and well-being. He compares his faith and prayer to his breathing. Not only does he need them, but losing them would be a debility that Wiesel isn’t sure he can face. Despite the necessity to retain this, they ignore the warnings and threats that the Nazis pose, and he and his family remain almost blissfully ignorant of the fact that there is the threat of their toys being ripped away and everything they know languishing into little more than a memory. This threat is sitting right in their front yard, and they have no idea of the vicissitude that will come and change their lives when the threat walks onto the porch, rolls up its sleeves, and knocks on the door. â€Å"Anguish. German soliders— with their steel helmets, and their emblem, the death’s hand. † (Wiesel 7). Everybody had denied it, but there they were. The Germans had come to Elie’s home of Sighet despite everyone’s belief. The Germans seemed nice at first, but this view would be ephemeral. The Germans first housed themselves inside the homes of the Jews, but this soon cascaded into constantly forcing them to give up their valuables, pushing them away from their homes until one day they were loaded onto the train and all Elie had left were the clothes on his back, his family, and God. The events leading up to his arrival were periods where he begged for God. He begged to God, whom he had dedicated his life, to save him and his family from the abrasive fist of the concentration camp. Once at the reception center, this is where he the game changes. When he watches the people around him pray for their lives, he just wonders â€Å"Why? † Why should he bless His name, when He has gone mute? In just a few short weeks, everything that he ever based his life on he questioned and went against. This changes his view on the world entirely. He now knows that God, the one who has always been beside him, can turn away from the torture of millions of people like it were nothing. He went from wholeheartedly giving his life to God, to eventually abjuring him altogether and getting angry at him. This is totally different for him; he’d never felt any distain for him until then. This shatters him, but at least his God is still there; still existent even though he looks away from the destruction. Unfortunately, this can’t last long. Wiesel had endured a lot during his time in concentration camps. Knowing that his God had turned his back on him was painful; without God the conditions made him extremely vulnerable and blighted. The Germans were persistent in crushing every one of them. They were determined to teach those who stepped out of line a lesson, and give an example of punishments to everyone else. And so, thusly, there were hangings. And, at one of these hangings was a child, who had been accused of something by the Germans and was thusly hanged. You can tell that all of Wiesel’s hope in God is lost when he says, â€Å" ‘Where is He? Here He is— He is hanging here on this gallows†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ † (Wiesel 62). Whilst everyone is looking for God, he already knows where he is. He is dead; he has been hanged just like everyone else. Before, he just rejected his God. God was just a figure who had ignored him in a time of need. But when he witnessed those hangings, he realized that God had not turned his back on him. God had tried to enter and was murdered. The safety of God and the sanctuary that comes with it was dead inside all of them. It was not God who had turned his back; it was the Germans who had forced him away. Wiesel went through many treacherous experiences during his time in concentration camps, but one of the worst was the change in is faith. Judaism used to be his world, he used to dedicate his life to it. It says early on in the book that every day he would study the Talmud in the first half of the day, and then he would go to the synagogue in the other half. One day, this was all ripped away from him. He used to be faithful, but soon afterwards he was left with the dawning realization that the God he was begging for help would no longer listen. He wouldn’t listen because his God couldn’t listen anymore. The Nazis made sure that anything having to do with Judaism was punished and murdered, and that goes for his God too. His toy was faith, the God that lay inside him where he could go for hope. But the Nazis took it away from him. At first, it would seem as if God had betrayed him. This was not the case, God had not betrayed him. The God that he held inside him, the God he loved and lived with and the God who had always been there had been beaten out of him and killed. This toy was a piece of him he can never have back. All because someone came up, took it, and crushed it. The toy became broken, and just like that, so did Wiesel.

Free sample - The US Government Should Not be Funding Arts.. translation missing

The US Government Should Not be Funding Arts.. The US Government Should Not be Funding Arts.Introduction First, what does "funding" refer to? Funding can be either direct or indirect. The US government was funding arts in this country before 1965 but that it took in-direct forms, including land grants, tax exemptions to educational and cultural institutions such as museums, and tax advantages for private donations of art to the public. This paper delves more onto direct state funding of the arts. The US arts system has no single control but instead, has a variety of public subsidies composing of roughly 13% of the nation’s total investment in nonprofit arts groups. The National Endowment for the Arts-NEA is the largest single funder of the arts across America, but the majority of direct public funding still flows from a combination of other federal, state, regional and local agencies. NEA in 2009 had a budget of US$155 million.   Even before the creation of the NEA in 1965, the issue of government in funding of the arts had been a contested one. Some justifications for governme nt arts funding are found, but it is noted that in embracing these justifications inappropriate consequences may be occur. Thus, in this paper it is urged that we refrain from government funding of the arts because the effects of such funding, would be deleterious to the art world. Much government funding is aimed at what might be thought of as the preservation of culture. It supports museums and repertory companies and is intent on keeping our culture intact. Other objectives of government funding target community art centers, regional theaters, and school programs. And funding may also be directed to professional artists for the purpose of enabling them to produce new works of art.    Whereas funding of museums looks to the past of our culture, funding professional artists is futuristic.   The preservation of culture, of course, is involved with education, which falls under the jurisdiction of the state . More to that, though not clearly, art preservation keeps us aware of who we have been, which informs our practical decisions about who we shall become. Support for the production of modern day art can also be defended as educational but, bluntly, contemporary art is not our heritage yet; nor is it clear how much of it will be or how far it will stand time.   If the aesthetic value of contemporary art would be used to justify prospective arts funding, it also will have unfortunate consequence in that it only warrants the funding of certain kinds of art, the art of the beautiful, the sublime, and that expressive of psychically balancing qualities. If no further justification can be found, the ill consequence of this is that the state can only fund a certain typ e of art. Artists pursuing certain non aesthetic aims cannot be funded by the state. If the government places large investments behind one type of art, the evolution of the art world will undoubtedly be affect ed. Whole avenues of artistic development will appear less viable than the production of aesthetic art. And from the contemporary art world's point of view, this kind of arts funding might be regarded as having a regressive effect overall.    Another justification used by proponents of arts funding is that it may function as an economic stimulant, promoting prosperity by, for example, attracting tourists. As far as this funding can be pegged to the state of the economy, it would appear to be a legitimate course of action, since functioning of economy is related to the state responsibilities. It is often difficult to imagine the way in which grants to individual artists for new works as opposed to city art centers can spur economic growth. An economic growth argument identifies the value of arts funding not with aesthetic or artistic value, but as an economic instrument. But despite this, the argument seems acceptable, although it can only be mobilized under certain constraints. Where   arts funding is employed to stimulate tourism or some other form of economic activity in a given area, the state must be convinced that there is no alternative form of intervention of comparable cost would yield greater prosperity in that area. More to that, where national rather than local economy is at issue, the state must supply some rationale why it is undertaking to stimulate tourism in one geographical region rather than another.      Another justification put forward is connecting arts funding to   employment. If state funding is not forthcoming, then many artists will be unemployed. Unemployment is a genuine matter of concern to the state. Massive unemployment is one of the great tragedies of our society, and we must demand that the state do something about it. Artists do not constitute a group that is comparable to unemployed youth. Justice and equal opportunity do not seem to bear on the issue of artistic unemployment. For instance, I may not be able to support my family as an unemployed poet; but that does not mean that I can't do it in another way, say, as a cook or a copywriter. It does not fall under the state's responsibilities in regard to the unemployed extend to guaranteeing that everyone have the job he or she most desires. The case of artistic unemployment involves people not able to pursue the line of work they most like, while youth unemployment at large involves people excluded from the work force altogether. Fairness can be used to ground government arts support. If a given government subsidizes the building of sports arenas, then, in all fairness, arts production should also be supported. If the government facilitates the pursuits of sports fans, then it should, as a matter of treating people equally, also facilitate the pursuits of arts fans, perhaps by means of supporting the creation of new art. But what, in such a context, justifies the subsidizing of sports? If nothing does, then perhaps what is required is that neither sports nor the arts be subsidized. Of course, a subsidy for a sport might be defended on the grounds that it stimulates the economy of an area; but then arts funding can, in principle, be similarly defended. Again, it does seem correct to say that if a majority, call them sports fans, demand sports funding in the face of opposition by a minority, call them arts lovers, then fairness urges that the leisure activity of the latter group also be supported, though perhap s not to the same extent. The deeper question, however, is whether any leisure activity should be supported. The advancement of the leisure professions may just not be an area the state should enter at all.    One of the earliest arguments in favor of government support of the arts is that the arts perform a moral function.   If art can function as a means of improving morality, then the state is justified in supporting it. Some art enables us to see the world from a different perspective, thus not only promoting the acquisition of a formal requirement of morality, but also enabling us to understand situations of different classes, races, creeds, and genders. Art, then, can foster greater tolerance within society and thereby bolster the moral order. If we argue from these grounds then state funding on moralizing grounds will be justified ,but   then only to that art which will increase moral sympathies. This will require some serious   research into the moral importance of different kinds of art. Art that afford no moral uplift cannot be funded. This raises problems like those encountered in an earlier discussion of the aesthetics value. If the state is funding only certain kinds of art and it enters the art world, putting its resources behind only moralizing kinds of art, then there is a danger that the development of the art world will be skewed in a certain direction. This violates our understanding   that   art should be pluralist and   independent of considerations of social utility.    Public arts funding primarily benefits the already advantaged. An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities   related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art(Wikipedia). Artist should be able to use their rare skills to improve their well being.    There is also an argument that public funding is necessary to promote innovation and dialogue among diverse points of view, so that groups that want to use the fine arts to challenge the status quo and advocate their unpopular world views and lifestyles can have a forum. However, while the common good requires tolerating the expression of unpopular points of view, the fact that most people do not share them suggests that the common good may not be served by supporting their expression. Even if it is, the government has no more business providing subsidies for such purposes. Indeed, many unpopular world views and lifestyles are at odds with traditional theism, and subsidizing them while not subsidizing theism would give the former an unfair advantage. People who think the expression of an unpopular viewpoint desirable should be fund it themselves just as religious believers should support their churches and missionary activities. The argument that public funding is necessary because some people have great and rare gifts that, due to lack of a market, otherwise will be lost. That might be true but the common good of political society is limited. It is not the proper role of the U.S. government to pursue all human goods in every possible way, and therefore not its business to subsidize every gift that otherwise will be fruitless. Some argue that subsidizing what initially appeals only to a few are necessary to foster a wide variety of creative initiatives that will elevate popular taste and tomorrow serve the multitude. Whether the funded work elevates anyone’s taste is arguable, but even supposing it does, can this indirect contribution to the common good justify the subsidy? Moreover, while some creative efforts that initially appeal to few eventually serve the masses, most do not, and it is hardly possible to show that public funding of some portion of art work is necessary for future cultural development. There are other needs calling for public funding, and some, plainly more pressing than this- for example, better basic education for the very poor- will surely put it to fruitful uses. One cannot justify spending for a dim and uncertain result when there are many urgent and promising alternatives. A recent argument draws a distinction between to view points of culture, Culture provides the particular paintings, performances, and novels, designs, sports and thrillers that we value and take delight in; but it also provides the structural frame that makes aesthetic values of that sort possible and makes them values for us. This structural frame includes a wealth of associations, references, images, and contrasts, which, like language, supply us with the tools with which we forge and map our common life. It insists that it is better for people to have a complex and multifarious cultural framework and that we owe future generations at least as rich a cultural framework as the one we inherited. Both these values can be achieved by promoting the creation of innovative art. Government support in this area is necessary because it "helps protect the fragile structure of our culture. This argument to endorse indirect rather than direct arts support by the government. But he does countena nce situations in which government support could be direct. At least two problems, however, beset this approach. First, there is the assumption that the structure of culture is fragile. When we look at the structure of culture, we note that it comprises many ingredients beside art-social dances, children's games, fashion, sports, religion, indeed the whole gamut of our symbolizing activities. These images become part and parcel of our ways of thinking; they are the very weave of our common culture. But it seems dubious to consider them to be fit beneficiaries of public funding. Yet if art deserves public funding because of its contribution to our cultural framework, so does anything else that similarly contributes, including, potentially, every sort of symbolizing activity, and notably some outlandish ones: hoopla-hoops, comic books, Billy Graham, the Watergate break-in, and so on. Government funding of anything involves government control. Proponents of arts funding are unaware of this peril when they praise the role of the national endowments as an seal of approval on artists and arts groups. This could lead to politicization of arts. Another claim used to justify public funding of arts is equal arts participation.   Participation in arts can not only be attributed to state funding and subsidy but may also be attributed to two other possible factors, that is; Groups that are inclined to participate even without state funding especially those with high income and highly educated may be attending in higher numbers; or, groups that formerly attended in lower rates for example, low income and education and certain ethnic groups may also be participating more given the rise in public support. Accordingly, If state art support truly makes the arts more available and accessible, then   it would be expected that an even more evenly distributed scenario of participation in states that provide more funding would be witnessed. Unequal participation in arts appears on several levels; in education, income, race, and geographic location. People will always participate in the arts at unequal levels, and statistical evidence confirms that participation in arts differs by various populace groups. Although income alone may not accurately predict participation at the individual level, a more complete picture is seen when economic   theory of choice is combined with other social and individual background characteristics that help determine preferences such as education level, racial alignment, income, and location. Therefore, participation inequalities occur not only because of variations of individual tastes, but also because of other social and cultural influences on the choice and ability to participate in arts.   The cultural equity argument for government support, depends on the problem of unequal access. The depends on the fact that factors beyond individuals’ immediate control prevent them from taking part in opportunities availed by participation in arts. Equal access can be categorized into three concepts: equality of opportunity, rights, opportunity, and of participation. Use of state funding to correct for unequal access is a form of redistribution. Redistribution through arts funding is skewed, since it favors those to whom art and the aesthetic are more important over those to whom it is less important. So, the best form of redistribution of state resources would be direct transfers to the less fortunate. Proponents of state funding will also argue that by funding arts the state is safeguarding the welfare of the citizens. But welfare, as it applies to as a state role, refers to assistance to individuals in need of the basic commodities that comprise a living. Is it practical to suppose that arts funding provides some such a commodity?   An analogy would be to say that someone needs Y is to say that they lack it, they will suffer injury, sickness, madness, hunger, or avoidable death. Does the production of contemporary artworks assist individuals in needful situations such as these? The answer is no. Some proponents of public funding will attempt to connect state arts support to the state's welfare function by   introducing a concept of aesthetic welfare. Aesthetic welfare is defined as all the aesthetic levels of the experience of members of the society at a given time. It is then suggested that there is a prima facie government duty to preserve the aesthetic wealth of society wh ere that wealth-pictures, plays, and so forth-is what gives rise to aesthetic welfare. It is not certain, however, that this particular notion of aesthetic welfare helps the case for prospective arts funding since it may be that, if there were such a prima facie duty, retrospective arts funding might suffice to discharge it. Also, one must question whether the connection between "aesthetic welfare" and the concept of welfare relevant to government activity is really unequivocal. First, "aesthetic welfare" doesn't correlate with de-finable needs, especially basic needs; nor does being below the poverty line imply being aesthetically disadvantaged. And clearly promoting individuals' aesthetic welfare will not raise them over the poverty line. More-over, the state's welfare responsibility under this conception of aesthetic welfare doesn't seem to be directly connected to individuals but is a matter of ensuring that there will be a large number of aesthetic objects around so that people can have aesthetic experiences if they want them. The state is to ensure the permanent possibility of high levels of what is called aesthetic welfare but might better be called aesthetic well-being. This well-being is to be secured for society at large, construed additively, whereas the state's welfare responsibilities are discharged toward particular per-sons, viz., anyone in need. Thus the notion of aesthetic welfare" appears not to refer to welfare of the kind that defines the state's proper domain of activity; it is merely a homonymous term that, though sounding like the concept employed in the discussion of the state's welfare responsibilities, is actually quite separate. Lastly, the idea that art will disappear if the government does not support it, and if the state does not fund new art, no one else will. Of course, this is a false claim, and a dubious one at that. The arts flourished in democratic societies before the coming of direct public funding; there is no reason to suppose that they will disappear without the direct government funding of new arts. Where people are interested in art, there will still be an audience to support new work. Were there no audience whatsoever, it would be difficult to determine on what basis the government would justify funding new art. SUMMARY In conclusion, there do appear to be some theoretical justifications for possible government funding of art. The two important   justifications seem to be those concerning the aesthetic environment and the moralizing effects of the arts.   For they endorse the funding of only certain types of art. Government support for only certain types of art may indeed disturb the structure of artistic production and perhaps destroy the art world as we know it.

Contrast Essay for The Great Gatsby

How to Write a Compare/Contrast Essay for The Great Gatsby SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips A very common essay prompt/discussion topic for The Great Gatsby is to have you compare and contrast a pair of characters in Gatsby. Why do teachers love these prompts so much? These compare/contrast essays are an opportunity for you to tie the character similarities and differences to larger observations about society and class, the American Dream, or identity in the novel. They also allow you to practice standard English class skills: close reading, using lines from the text as evidence, and taking a stance and presenting a supporting argument in an essay. We’ll go over some basic dos and don’ts for writing compare/contrast essays before diving into some analysis of the most asked-about character pairings. Keep reading if you have a Compare/Contrast assignment on the horizon! Article Roadmap The do's of acompare and contrast essay The don'ts of a compare contrast essay Why some characters are paired for comparison more often than others Analysis of and essay topic ideas for the most common character pairs: Nick and Gatsby Tom and George Tom and Gatsby Daisy and Jordan Daisy and Myrtle What to Do in a Compare/Contrast Essay Like anything you write for English class, your essay should be clearly organized, with a thesis statement (a one-sentence summary of your argument), and topic sentences for each body paragraph. And you should definitely have an overall argument! The point of the compare/contrast essay isn’t for you to just list the differences and similarities between two characters, you need to take those observations and make a larger argument about the novel as a whole. That larger argument allows you to practice writing an essay that contains an argument, which is a skill that nearly all English teachers are focused on building. To take a quick example, don’t just list the differences between Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby. Instead, make an argument like, â€Å"Fitzgerald’s portrayal of wealthy New York society through Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan allows him to critique both old money and the newly rich, while reserving his most pointed critiques for the old money crowd.† (Obviously, that’s just one example, and there are dozens of potential arguments you could make while comparing and contrasting characters in Gatsby!) Make sure to address your larger argument in each body paragraph as you draw out the similarities and differences between the two characters. Don’t get caught in the weeds as you tease out the many differences and similarities in each character pair. Always link back to the bigger picture. Finally, analyze each quote you use – in other words, don’t stick a quote in your essay and do nothing with it. Make sure to explain how and why the quote demonstrates a key similarity or difference, and what that means for your bigger argument. What to Avoid in a Compare/Contrast Essay Don’t just list differences and similarities without an overarching argument. Although you can definitely start brainstorming by making a list of similarities and differences, just presenting that list in essay form won’t get you a good grade, since you need to go deeper and explain what the similarities/differences suggest about the novel as a whole. And, on the other side, don’t make big claims without some evidence from the text to back them up. For example, don’t say â€Å"Tom is selfish while Gatsby cares about others.† Prove those two separate claims (Tom is selfish† and â€Å"Gatsby cares about others†) with relevant lines from the book. (And if you’re having a hard time locating good quotes, find a digital version of Gatsby you can search using the CTRL-F function. It’s a lifesaver when gathering relevant quotes for an essay!) The garden gnome agrees - our essay tips have helped him out more than you'll ever know. Why Are These Characters Paired Most Often? We will tackle these major pairings in the next sections of this article: Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby Tom Buchanan and George Wilson Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson Before we dig into the analysis, you might be wondering: â€Å"why are we only comparing characters of the same gender?† or maybe â€Å"why not other pairings? Why not Jordan and Myrtle, or Nick and Tom?† We are focusing on these specific pairings because they are by far the most commonly asked about pairs in essay prompts and discussion topics for The Great Gatsby. And we want this guide, first and foremost, to be helpful to students as you work on assignments involving Gatsby! Furthermore, these pairings help teachers get you to explore some of the novel’s larger themes. For example, comparing Daisy/ Myrtle or Tom/George can help you explore the differences between the wealthy and the working class.Comparing Daisy/Myrtle or Daisy/Jordan can help you explore the changing status of women during the 1920s. Comparing Tom and Gatsby can get at the old money/new money divide. Finally, differences betweenNick and Gatsby raisesome of the novel’s larger questions about the American Dream, repeating the past, and identity. In short, these pairings have become common because they each allow fairly easy access to one of the novel’s larger issues. That’s not to say you couldn’t also explore some of those themes by comparing, say, Jordan and George, or Daisy and Gatsby, but cross-gender compare/contrast essays can be challenging because the status of women and men is so different in the novel. If you are interested in seeing how a particular male and female character are paired, you may be better off studying them through the lens of love, desire, and relationships in the novel, or through the way they relate to one of the novel's symbols or motifs. With those thoughts in mind, let's jump into the top 5 pairings! For each pairing, we will suggest a few possible larger arguments you can either build from or disagree with, but these are far from comprehensive! You should add to our analysis of the characters and come up with an argument you’re excited about. Quick Note on Our Citations Our citation format in this guide is (chapter.paragraph). We're using this system since there are many editions of Gatsby, so using page numbers would only work for students with our copy of the book. To find a quotation we cite via chapter and paragraph in your book, you can either eyeball it (Paragraph 1-50: beginning of chapter; 50-100: middle of chapter; 100-on: end of chapter), or use the search function if you're using an online or eReader version of the text. Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby Although Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway varyboth in outlook and temperament, they are also alike ininteresting ways. Despite somewhat similardesires, attitudes, and social positions, Nick and Gatsby make very different choices during the novel. Love and Romance.Nick and Gatsbyboth want womenthat are out of their reach, although in different degrees. Daisy is miles above Gatsby in terms of social class. Jordan and Nick are of the same social status, but Jordan doesn't seem free to make her own decisions since an aunt controls her financial life.There is a significant passion gap between Gatsby and Nick as well. Gatsby obsesses over Daisy- he has thought of nothing else for five years, going as far as to buy a house across the bay from her just in case she notices. Nick, meanwhile, is attracted to Jordan's cool and self-sufficient demeanor, but he is clearly not in love with her, as he himself notes ("I wasn't actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity" (3.159)). Approach to Women.Both men are not particularly interested in the inner lives of the women they want to be with. Gatsby is devastated when Daisy doesn't want to renounce her relationship with Tom completely. Similarly, Nick cavalierly discounts Jordan's penchant to lie, cheat, and generally be cynically uninterested in other people, and then is deeply disappointed when she acts this way after Myrtle's death. Class and Social Standing.Although bothGatsby and Nick are outsiders to the wealthy communities of East and West Egg, Nick is a much more in-between character socially than Gatsby. Nick is familiar with the ways of the old money crowd because of his own family's privilege and the fact that he is related to Daisy. Gatsby isnot only self-made, but is a criminal whois desperate to pass as part of the old money elite without knowing its customs or rules of behavior.What isolates Nickfrom East Egg life is his Midwestern values and the importance he places on morality and decency. Gatsby is isolated from everyone by the fact that he can never actually be himself - he is always playing a role and putting on his "Oxford man" persona. It may be this sense of feeling out of place that connects them. Outlook and Temperament.Gatsby is an optimist (almost to a delusional degree)while Nick is a realist who finds Gatsby's idealism inspiring and admirable. Gatsby believes in his ability to shape his own life and future, which makes sense since he has managed to transform himself from a farmer to a successful gangster, to impersonate an "Oxford man," and to accumulatea fantastic amount of wealth in a very short time. This belief in his power translates to Gatsby being sure that he and Daisy can go back to their month of idyllic love ("'Can't repeat the past?', he cried incredulously. 'Why of course you can!'" (6.129).Nick tries his best to be an objective realist and to reign in his tendency to judge others. He is deeply in awe of self-directed men like Gatsby, and even Wolfshiem (Nick is amazed to think that one man could be behind a huge event like therigged World Series). Ambition.Gatsby dreams of greatness. As a young man his mind â€Å"romped like the mind of God,† and so as an adult, he seems to have made good on this promise by buying the most ridiculous mansion and throwing the most extravagantparties (6.134). Nick is much less ambitious in comparison. While he comes to New York seeking excitement, he doesn't want to be the wealthiest bond salesman on Wall Street or to have the biggest house. He is happy to be an observer at the edge of the drama rather than being in its midst. Nick and GatsbyEssay Ideas Here arepotential arguments to build on or disagree with based our observations. These are certainly not the only possible arguments, so be creative! Make sure your essay considers what the similarities and differences between Nick and Gatsby reveal about the novel as a whole. Nick is a passive person and Gatsby is active, which is why Gatsby is the hero and Nick simply the observer. Nick has much more in common with Gatsby than he thinks he does, which explains why he becomes so enamored of him. Nick serves as a foil (someone whoserves as a contrast)to Gatsby, which makes Nick the best possible observer of Gatsby. At the end of the novel, Tom says that Gatsby â€Å"threw dirt in [Nick’s] eyes, just like Daisy’s,† meaning thatboth Nick and Daisy were taken in and could never see the true Gatsby: a narcissist and a criminal.Tom is right - the whole novel is Nick trying to spin a negative character into a positive one. Nick Carraway: master of spin or just along for the ride? Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby As they battle overDaisy’s love, Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby sometimes seem surprisingly similar - particular in their self-centeredness, wealth, and concern with appearances. At the same time, these surface parallelspoint to majorconflictsin their social class, and say a lot about the world of the novel. Appearance.Gatsby is driven by his materialism to be very invested having fashionable clothes, a beautiful mansion, and visually overwhelmingparties - for him, the outfit is the thing that makes the Oxford man. Meanwhile because Tom doesn't have to dress the part of the moneyed elite to be one, he is instead veryattuned to the behavior of others. This is why he immediately seeshow fakeGatsby's persona is, both because of Gatsby's overly ostentatious clothes, and because of how much Gatsby misreads the fake invitation from the Sloanes. Tom is never fooled into thinking that Gatsby isanything other than an upstart, and mostly likely a criminal one. Self-Centeredness.Tom and Gatsbyare both completely selfish, and fully convinced that their desires have to be acquiesced to by those around them. Tom, for example, starts his affair with Myrtle by pressing himself against her on a train platform - basically, his version of flirting is bodily assault. Gatsby, meanwhile, also thinks nothing of starting anaffair with a married woman, assuming that his obsessive feelings are enough to justify any behavior. Wealth.Despite the fact that both are unimaginably rich, these men come from totally different sides of the big money divide.Tom comes fromold money and is forever worried about the encroachment of the nouveau riche, minorities, and others onto what he thinks is his. At the same time, Gatsby is the most successful of the novel's many ambitious social climbers, using his lack of ethical scruples to parlay his criminal activity into a higher social status. Power.Tom loves being powerful and wieldshis power directly. He is physically aggressive and uses his body to threaten and intimidate (Nick, for one, is clearly very cowed by Tom's bulk). He is also quick to violence, whether it's socially sanctioned - like his football accomplishments - or not - like when he breaks Myrtle's nose without a second thought.Gatsby also holdssignificant power, but his methods are much more indirect. Still, whether he is offering Nick some illegal bond trading action, or showing off his get-out-of-a-ticket-free card to a cop on the highway, Gatsby is clearly happy to be in control of a situation. Love. Tom and Gatsby both seem to be in love with Daisy. But what does that really mean to each of them? For Tom, Daisy is clearly partly appealing because she completes his horse-riding, East Egg, 350-thousand-dollar pearl necklace lifestyle. He cheats on her because he clearly has never denied himself anything, but he also understands Daisy as a person. He knows that she is too weak to leave him, but he also loves her enough to tolerate her affair with Gatsby and to stay with her after Myrtle's murder.Gatsby's love, on the other hand, is in some ways purer because he so idealizes Daisy and connects her to all of his other hopes and dreams. But this love is overly pure - he doesn't really seem to know Daisy as anything other than an idealized object, and is incapable of accepting that she has led a life apart from him for five years. Tom and Gatsby Essay Ideas In a compare/contrast essay, you can’t just present a list of similarities and differences. You also need to have an underlying argument you’re supporting. Feel free to take these at face value or as jumping-off points for your own thoughts. Tom loves Daisy as a person, Gatsby loves her as an idea. Both Tom and Gatsby’s tendency to control women and see them as prizes reveals the misogyny of the 1920s. Although Tom sees Gatsby as someone from an entirely different class than him, what they have in common (selfishness, affairs, obsession with appearances) makes a larger argument for an overall moral hollowness of the rich of any class. We see both Gatsby and Tom through the eyes of Nick, who worships one of them and hates the other. In reality, they are both much more similar than different, and their different treatment reveals Nick's insecurities and biases. Gatsby gives new meaning to letting perfect be the enemy of the good. Tom Buchanan and George Wilson At first, most readers see Tom Buchanan and George Wilsonas opposites. But, these markedly different characters face very similar circumstances andoffer two takes on masculinity and power in the novel. Appearance and Presence.Where Tom is strong and cowering, George is meek and shrinking. Tom exudes power and confidence while George tends to just fade into the background. These differences are borne out in the way these two men interact with the world. Tom is violent towards others, while George’s instinct is to be passive or to try and escape situations, the notable exceptions being his locking up of Myrtle and murder of Gatsby. Tom is confident, privileged, and assured while George is timid; George is â€Å"ruled by his wife† where Tom is selfish and acts on his own desires. Reaction to Adversity. There is a dramatic difference in the way the two menreactto the factthat their wives are cheating on them. Tom notices Daisy’s love for Gatsby and immediately starts making power plays. On the other hand, George discovers Myrtle’s affair and is undone by it. Nick compares the two men in a memorable description: â€Å"the shock had made him physically sick. I stared at him and then at Tom, who had made a parallel discovery less than an hour beforeand it occurred to me that there was no difference between men, in intelligence or race, so profound as the difference between the sick and the well. Wilson was so sick that he looked guilty, unforgivably guiltyas if he had just got some poor girl with child" (7.160). In this description, Tom is â€Å"well† and George is â€Å"sick.† Theseare certainly arresting ways to describe Tom's more traditional masculinity and George's less overtly masculine character. Tom is self-assured in the face of adversity and immediately takes action to win Daisyback,insisting on driving Gatsby's car, bullying those around him into driving to Manhattan, and using his romance skills to remind Daisy of the pluses of their relationship. Meanwhile, George's weaknessmakeshim look sick and guilty as he contemplates Myrtle's betrayal and isdriven to violence to reassert his power over her. Approach to Women.Both Tom and George assume they know what’s best for their wives: Tom dismisses Daisy’s professed love for Gatsby despite their obvious closeness, while George is determined to take Myrtle out west once he learns about the affair. But, while it seems that Tom does fundamentally understand Daisy and is right about her unwillingness to leave their marriage, George is unable to hold on to Myrtle either emotionally or physically. She is killed trying to run away from him. Tom and George Essay Ideas Differences in attitude and outcome, despite a relatively similar situation, reveal some unexpectedtruths aboutthe world of the novel. Argue the reverse of any of these topics for a really provocative essay! The fact that Tom manipulates George into killing Gatsby and then himself (which allows Tom and Daisy to walk away from the entire affair without consequence) shows the huge privileges of having money in the novel. Nick's approach to Tom and George shows his admiration of a physical, brutish, domineering kind of masculinity. The fact that the relatively good guy turns into a murderer while the bad guy lives to cheat another day isavery cynical takeon what happens in a world without a moral compass. Perhaps it shouldn't be surprised that the meeker man turns out to be the ultraviolent one. Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker Despite Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker'ssimilar â€Å"white girlhoods† (1.140) in Louisville, their attitude and motivations are quite distinct, making them really interesting to compare and contrast. Attitude and Outlook.Both Daisy and Jordan display an entitled, bored attitude that’s typical of Fitzgerald’s depiction of the old money segment of wealthy New York society. The fact that they are introduced in tandem, both lying on the couches in their white dresses, speaks to their initially similar attitudes. But soon we see how different their takes on this kind of life are.Daisy is increasingly despondent, even nihilistic, asking in Chapter 7, â€Å"what shall we do today, and tomorrow, and for the next thirty years?† (7.74). Jordan meanwhile is a pragmatic opportunist, who sees possibilities everywhere, arguingthat â€Å"life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall† (7.75). In other words, Daisy’s pessimistic attitude from Chapter 1 comes through again, while Jordan, despite coming across as cynical and sharp, actually still seems excited about the possibilities life has to offer. Appearance and Personality.Both Daisy and Jordan very alluring in their own way, though Daisy’s allure comes through her enchanting voice and feminine charms, while Jordan is masculine, â€Å"jaunty,† witty, sharp, and physical.Daisy maintains a squeaky-clean reputation despite moving with a fast crowd, while there are plenty of rumors about Jordan’s cheating in golf, and Nick comments on her dishonest attitude.More significantly, Daisy is incredibly self-absorbed while Jordan is very observant. Role in Society.Daisy seems caught between what society expects of her and some deeper, more powerful desires she can’t name, resulting in restlessness, depression, and her affair.Daisy is sticking to her prescribed societal role by marrying and having a child, while Jordan plays golf, â€Å"runs around town† and doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to marry, at least in the beginning of the novel. Perhaps Jordan is still somewhat optimistic about the possibilities of life since she hasn’t settled down yet, while Daisy realizes that nothing major in her life will change at this point.Jordan, meanwhile, is content to chase after fun and intrigue via other people’s bad behavior. And she doesn’t get dragged down by the tragedy in the book – on the contrary, she is callous in how little Myrtle’s death seems to shake her, coolly calling Nick the next day and asking him to meet like nothing has happened (8.50-61). Perhaps her motivations are a bit less accessible to the reader since her role was significantly downsized between some of Fitzgerald’s earlier drafts. But in any case, as we watch Daisy struggle in her marriage, what we see of Jordan is cool, calm, collected, and rather uncaring. Daisy and Jordan Essay Ideas So what are some possible conclusions we can draw from Daisy and Jordan’s characters? One of the most common strategies is to tie the differences between these women onto oneof the book’s larger themes, like the role of society and class or the American Dream. Another is to think about an important feature of the novel, like Nick’s narration, and see what these two characters can reveal about it. With those strategies in mind, here are some potential arguments you could argue for or against! Jordan and Daisy, because they are generally disempowered, both use their sexuality in different ways to gain power, with different results. Despite Jordan’s overt cheating and lying, Daisy is, in fact, the more morally compromisedperson. The way Nick treats Jordan versus the way he describes Daisy revealsthe novel’s preoccupation with Gatsby above all, to the detriment of the female characters. Dear Diary: Today I cheated at golf yet again! But it was nothing compared to what my friend Daisy did... Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson While Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson obviously come from very different backgrounds and have conflicting motivations, they also have some surprising similarities. Physical Appearance.Daisy and Myrtle both derive power from their looks. Myrtle's comfort with hervoluptuous bodyis clearly appealing to Tom, while Daisy's magnetic voice and ethereal presence obsess Gatsby. Throughout the novel, Myrtle is frequently reduced to being just a body - one to be used or violated by those around her. Tom sees little inMyrtle besides someone to either rub up against, have sex with, or punch at will; George resorts to imprisoning Myrtle while she eggs him on to "beat" her (7.314) the way Tom does; and finally, Daisy gruesomely rips Myrtle's body apart with a car. Meanwhile, Daisy's voice also serves to make her less of a person in her own right and more of an idealized, mythic figure from fairy tales. For Gatsby, Daisy's voice is appealing because it is "full of money" (7.105) - he is attracted to her not because of who she is, but because he sees her as a prize. Social Standing.Myrtle puts on the airs that Daisy has been born and raised with. This allows Myrtle to wield considerable social power within her group, as seen by how her guests fawn on her at the Manhattan party she throws. Daisy, in contrast, never exerts such overt power over a group – rather, she seems to move with crowds, doing what it expected of her (for instance marrying Tom despite still loving Gatsby). Love and Relationships.Daisy and Myrtle’s marriages are strikingly quite different. Daisy and Tom are able to stay together even through serial affairs and murder. They end uployal co-conspirators, protected by their wealth. Meanwhile, Myrtle has nothing but disdain forGeorge despite his evident love for her. Still, both womenuse affairs with other men as a way toescape. Daisy wants to get away from an increasingly unhappy marriage and try to recapture the spontaneity and possibility of her youth, while Myrtle loves the status that her affair with Tom grants her.However, both learn that they can’t escape forever through their affairs. Obviously, their biggest difference is thatDaisy gets to walk away from the novel unscathed, while Myrtle gets killed. Daisy and Myrtle Essay Ideas Here are ways to write about these different women who face similar choices with dramatically opposite conclusions. Despite their similarities in action and motivation, Daisy is protected from any lasting harm by her wealth and old money status, while Myrtle is punished for the same behavior, revealing how the class system in America protects the wealthy. The novel refuses to give any inner life to women, and instead reduces them to their physical qualities no matter what social class they come from. Daisy and Myrtle's similar treatment by the narrator and by the men around them shows that gender trumps class when determining status. Daisy and Myrtle’s similarities reveal how hollow the progress of the women’s movement really was at that point in time. Despite the big gains the movement made in the early twentieth century, including winning the right to vote and pushing for more freedom in how they could dress and act, both of these women’s lives aren’t vastly improved. They’re both trapped in unhappy marriages, they both rely on their looks/charms/sexuality to get what they want, and neither of them has even a chance of pursuing a fulfilling life through a career. The butterfly may be beautiful, but it's still trapped. What’s Next? Now that you’ve gone over the novel’s most popular compare/contrast pairings, check outour analysis of the novel’s romantic pairings in our guide to love, desire, and relationships in The Great Gatsby. Have an essay about a symbol or motif? Get started with our symbols overviewand motifs overview. Still a little hazy on some of the plot elements in Gatsby? Not to worry, we have you covered with our complete book summary! Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

How Will Mitt Romney Fare In His Bid For The Republican Party Essay

How Will Mitt Romney Fare In His Bid For The Republican Party Nomination - Essay Example The demand for knowledge about how a political process will turn out has increased the concern for what factors go into making intelligent predictions and how they are quantified. In presidential politics, of course, these factors are so innately complex and difficult to quantify that predictions are nearly always prone to failure. However, by looking at history and looking at the present together, one can piece together an accurate picture of chances or odds in formulating a semblance of a prediction. According to BetAsia, former Governor Mitt Romney’s odds at becoming the Republican nominee stand at 8/11 as of October 12 (Howard). This margin indicates a relatively good chance that Romney will secure the Republican nomination, and it is based on a bookmaker’s financial evaluation of Romney’s chances. Currently, there is good reason to agree with the bookmaker in putting the former Governor’s chances at such a high margin. Indeed, Romney has many objectiv e factors riding in his direction, including being the supposed frontrunner in a field of candidates that have the Republican base restless (Esch). Having frontrunner status bodes well for a candidate in advance of the Iowa Caucus and Super Tuesday elections: events that have historically either made or broken candidates’ dreams of the White House. Barring any crucial setbacks to those dreams, former Governor Mitt Romney is poised, based on a multitude of those predictive elements, to seize the Republican nomination for President. Section I: A Brief History of Mitt Romney In order to understand Mitt Romney as a candidate for President, one must understand his motives and policy beliefs, as they are relevant to his political campaign. Romney was born in Detroit, Michigan to George and Lenore Romney in 1947.At the age of five, his family moved from Detroit to Bloomfield Hills, after which his father took over and rescued American Motors from bankruptcy as CEO. George Romney pre sided over the Detroit Stake of the Mormon Church, which Romney would identify with as his religious affiliation (Cohn). While in high school, Romney’s father was elected Governor of Michigan, for whom he worked as an intern in the Governor’s office. Taking on odds jobs, such as a security guard and an ice hockey team manager, Romney wished to assume his father’s role. Still in high school, Romney began dating his future wife Ann Davies, whom he decided to marry near the date of his graduation. After graduation, Romney attended Stanford University for one year, taking part in the campus’s conservative movement before going overseas as a Mormon missionary. After finishing his education at Brigham Young University with his wife, now Ann Romney, he pursued a joint J.D. /M.B.A. program at Harvard University. Romney remained in Massachusetts after graduating, working as a management consultant first independently and then for Bain & Company starting in 1977. R omney began a private equity investment firm with Bill Bain in 1984, called Bain Capital. In 1990, Romney returned to Bain & Company as CEO to restructure the firm facing collapse. In 1999, he took a position as CEO of the Salt Lake City Olympic Games Organizing Committee, leaving Bain Capital once again a tremendously successful company (DealBook). Romney’

2500 words essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

2500 words - Essay Example A concert involves a live performance of music before a significant number of individuals also referred to as audience. Being held in various settings including private houses, nightclubs, entertainment centers, parks and concert halls among other places, concerts comes in different forms based on the musical genre, venue of performance and the individual performers. As an individual who is focused at improving my academic performance, I usually attend music concerts in various places in order to feel relaxed an aspect that improves my concentration. Additionally, I am focused at obtaining adequate information prior to attending the concerts. I usually obtain such information from the internet as well as bill boards that are in most cases elected in major towns and highways. This paper seeks to discuss my experience during my attendance of Rock in Rio 5 concert in September 2013. Rock in Rio is an event that originated from Brazil. Being held in series, the concerts attract large audience who come face to face with well known musicians from various countries. Rock in Rio 5 which is one of the series of Rock in Rio was held on 2013. Some of the notable musicians that participated in the concerts included Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen, Muse and Bon Jovi among others. Having started in Friday 13 September in Brazil, the 7 days event brought together more that 1 million people from different parts of the world. During the first day, David Guetta, Beyonce and Ivete Sangalo did their presentations during the Palco Mundo an event that attracted large audience especially among the college and university students. Majority of the people who arrived at the concerts were attracted by the performance of the three artists who are famous locally and internationally. Based on the fact that a large section of the audience were aware of the songs that were sa ng by Beyonce, the audience was able to sing along with her an aspect that made

The Benefits of Cooperative Learning for ELL Students

The Benefits of Cooperative Learning for ELL Students The first thing to consider is the fact that cooperative learning is beneficial to all students, regardless of their classification or primary language. In fact, activities where the teacher uses conceptual strategies that promote learning together or group investigation are statistically proven to be superior to instructional design focused on working alone or working in a competitive environment. Essentially, helping each other is better than competing or working alone. Three highly effective conceptual models have been determined to be those cooperative activities which can be labeled as learning together, academic controversy, or group investigation. Basically, if the cooperative learning technique you are using involves one of these three modes, then your lesson should be more effective than students working alone or in a competitive style (Johnson, D., Johnson R., Stanne, 2000). There are many examples of instructional strategies with a learning together style. Numbered Heads Together is one such activity; it is a strategy that promotes discussion, individual accountability, as well as group accountability. It is especially effective for reviewing and integrating subject matter (Numbered Heads Together, 2010). Academic controversy, another effective style of cooperative learning mentioned in the previous paragraph, is essentially informed and educated debate, with one important twist: the students argue both sides of the issue or contentious theory. One example of this type of cooperative learning strategy involves six steps: create the best case for a position on the controversy, present this best case, engage in open discussion, reverse perspectives, synthesize and come to consensus, and prepare a report (Academic Controversy, 2010). The last highly-effective type of cooperative learning noted above in the research is called group investigation. One school district website describes group investigation as an activity where à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦students collaborate to produce a group product for presentation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [in] an open-ended investigationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦structured to promote higher-order thinking skills. (Regina Public Schools, 2003). This type of group activity is probably best known as the very popular WebQuest design where students surf the internet in a guided, but self-directed, group investigation into a topic which ultimately leads to a finalized presentation or product. (Dodge, 2007). There are many more types of cooperative learning possibilities and conceptual categories to consider than learning together, academic controversy, and group investigation, however the conceptual types mentioned above are noted to be especially easy to learn, easy to implement, and easy to maintain once put into use (Johnson et al., 2000). Not only are cooperative learning strategies effective for all learners, but they are especially effective for ELL students specifically. Language learners tend to pick up social language much faster than academic language. ELL students basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS) are practiced in a meaningful context in a variety of social settings, but CALP is not normally practiced outside of the classroom. Rather, CALP is the language used in subject area content material; CALP is essential for success in school. While BICS will develop in as little as six months, CALP may take as long as seven years (Haynes, 1998). So we can see that the faster CALP is developed, the sooner our ELL students will succeed in content curricular areas. One way that cooperative learning helps CALP to be developed is through comprehensible input and comprehensible output. ELL students will often fail to understand a lecture, but if they are assisted by classmates it can be made more comprehensible to them. Comprehensive output means that the student has the opportunity to practice at whatever level of English fluency they have attained. CL helps to develop comprehensible input and comprehensible output in several ways. First, small groups make it possible for the teacher or group members to adapt the message to the ELL student. Second, feedback, correction, and checking of comprehension are easier in small groups and are non-judgmental. Also, ELL students have the opportunity to practice their oral language skills, get repetition, and peer assistance related to the current task at hand (Haynes, 1998). Another way that cooperative learning is helpful to ELL students is by lowering their anxiety level so that they feel more at ease and are able to comfortably focus on learning the language. Wang Qiangs work on cooperative learning (Qiang, 2007, as cited in Yang, 2008) shows us that speaking in small groups is natural, because in real life, this is how spontaneous communication occurs. If they speak in front of a large group of people it is usually a more formal situation where they have a prepared speech (Yang, 2009). Furthermore, according to Krashens Affective Filter hypothesis, anxiety is a negative factor in second language acquisition whereby the ELL student will retain less language under stress than in a relaxed state (Schutz, 2007). Since cooperative learning lowers the affective filter (Willis, 2007), it is logical that cooperative learning would make second language learning less threatening and therefore more effective. Consider this powerful quote about neuroimaging of t he anxious brain: In MRI scans of adolescents in states of affective, emotional anxiety, when the amygdala is metabolically hyperactive, the pathways that normally conduct information in and out of the amygdala show greatly reduced activity. Thus, new information is blocked from entering the memory banks (Toga Thompson, 2003, as stated in Willis, 2007). Two early studies done by Pica and Doughty in 1984 and 1985 (as stated in Liang, Mohan, and Early, 1998) compared the efficacy of teacher-fronted classes to small-group interactive classes. They found that in small groups students were able to practice more, receive more feedback, and produce more examples of the target language. This suggests that in small groups the ELL students have more opportunity to work on those specific curricular words, or academic language, that TESL instructors strive to develop. Pica and Doughtys study also found that in group work over 65% of students were engaged in negotiation for meaning versus 45% of the students in teacher-fronted classes. This statistic seems to suggest that ELL students will talk more freely and frequently in group settings about what unfamiliar language terms and structures mean. Thus, CALP is likely developed faster in CL groups than in teacher-fronted classes (Liang et al, 1998). Two interesting handbooks may help teachers improve their ability to foster CALP in the ELL classroom. One is the very popular Calla Handbook and the other is titled Building Academic Language, by Jeff Zweirs. The CALLA handbook: Implementing the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach, was written by Anna Uhl Chamot, and was presented in workshop format, by the author, in Wyoming in February of 2007. In her presentation on her popular book, Dr. Chamot stresses several key aspects of the CALLA approach. CALLA instruction is based on educational research and focuses on those language skills needed in school for academic success. Students are encouraged to value their prior knowledge and to relate it to new academic learning, a new culture, and a new language. Students are also tasked with learning to work cooperatively and socially, as well as internalizing learning strategies and applying them to new situations. Teachers are advised to use interesting topics and content which is linked to prior experiences and knowledge as well as presenting content through hands-on, investigative, or cooperative activities (Chamot Robbins, 2007). A book review of Building Academic Language: Essential Practices for Content Classrooms illuminates its value for building CALP in ELL education. This handbook is described as being very practical, full of strategies for the classroom, and focused on academic literacy. Important concepts in the book include using in-depth conversation as a scaffolding technique for building academic language, using metacognition to help students analyze classroom interactions, as well as the use of visual aids to help develop academic thought processes. The book stresses the need to think about the quality of student discourse, as well as the quantity, whereby the style of academic verbal interactions is guided by teaching processes, is modeled by the teacher, and ultimately leads to a deeper academic vocabulary and a deeper comprehension. (Huerta-Macias, 2007). In conclusion, this paper has reviewed and discussed how certain styles of cooperative learning are particularly valuable for all learners, including ELL students. Cooperative learning research and scholarly writings have been reviewed which demonstrate further that CL facilitates second language acquisition, in particular, because it lowers anxiety, makes input and output more comprehensible, and leads to more frequent use of the target language being studied. Finally, two respected TESL handbooks were reviewed for their merits in helping ELL teachers develop CALP.

Festivals are the best way to learn about your faith Essay

â€Å"Festivals are the best way to learn about your faith.† Do you agree? Give reasons to support your answer and show that you have thought about different points of view. Refer to Judaism in you answer. (15 marks) According to Jews, each individual has a strong duty to uphold their covenant with God. In fact, this is possibly the most important thing a Jew does during his/her lifetime: love and honour God’s commands and wishes. It is essential that all Jews, adults and children, understand what this means. Festivals are used to rejoice but they also have a strong message that will help Jews to follow the Torah and to love God. They help Jews to learn about their faith. E.g. Passover teaches the Jews about their history and about God’s ability to change history. Shabbat remembers the Sabbath day when God rested from creating the world. And so, Jews must rest too on this day and do no work whatsoever. Jews reflect upon God as the creator of all things. Simchat Torah commemorates the acceptance of the Torah and God’s counselling on how His chosen people should live Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur both call upon Jews to reflect upon their actions to God and towards each other. They are times of forgiving. Another way that festivals are very important is because of the children of Jews. They are the Jewish future and without them, the faith would die. Jews rely on the traditions and symbolism to pass down through generations. Festivals are particularly effective in teaching children because not only are they generally fun, they present to children a time to see distant relatives, a time to relax, a time to forgive each other and to be happy. Festivals are a exceptionally good way for children to learn about their faith but there are many ways a Jew can learn about his faith and although festivals may be the most fun, there are other essential things a Jew must learn about to learn about his/her faith. Some Jews may argue that before they are even of an age to learn, they must be initiated into their faith by a row of festivals such as Brit Milah (circumcision), Simchat Habat (The naming ceremony for girls), Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah. These festivals mark huge event: the admission into Judaism and the responsibility for keeping the covenant and the commandments for themselves. Children learn about all this through extensive research and reading of the Torah and the Hebrew language. Another way of learning about the religion is the reading of the Torah. Both the learning of the Written Torah and the Oral Torah is fundamental. Preferably, they will learn it in its original language, Hebrew, but nowadays, children will often learn the English version or in the language of whatever country they live. Synagogues provide study classes for communities of children and adults. The Written Torah contains the six hundred and thirteen mitzvoth that Jews must strive to keep for all of their life. The Oral torah provides a interpretation of these rules and how to keep them. Many Jews will also look to the local Rabbi to learn about their faith. He will advise them on any problems they have and willingly explain anything a Jew is confused about. They are they as guidance and help for Jews and are a very good way of enlightenment about Judaism. I am inclined to agree with the statement, because the event becomes a lot more interesting and fun as it is a break from the norm and it can be easy to remember certain events by having simple symbols to remind you. For example in Passover a Seder meal is eaten which contains several symbols to describe the event, which occurred 3,300 years ago. The Z’roah is a roasted bone of lamb to symbolise painting the door posts with lamb’s blood so the Angel of Death passed over that house and spared the first-born son and the matzah symbolises the Israelites leaving in a hurry, before their bread has risen. These symbols in the festival enable Jews to understand and remember the story by relating the food they’re eating. So, when they see the Z’roah they will think, â€Å"Oh, yes, I remember that lamb’s blood was painting over door posts so the Angel did not kill the first-born son of that house!† This is because they can relate it to the Z’roah being a roasted bone of lamb, so it jogs their memory. This is a good way to teach younger children about the story as they relate better to symbols and interesting stories than about lectures and rules that they MUST obey. I find that I can learn something much easier if I enjoy what I am learning and festivals are a really fun way of learning about one’s faith. However I can understand the point of view of those Jews who believe that the Written and Oral Torah are essential for the awareness of Judaism. I do believe that it is very important that Jews learn about the commandments and how they should be kept, because it is that which keeps the faith alive. I think, to sum it up, that festivals are a very good way to learn about one’s faith, because children can relate to them better and children are, of course, the future of Judaism, but I think if a Jew has learnt about their faith through all of these aspects then you cannot ask for a more devoted and steadfast person.

Siege of Boston in the American Revolution

The Siege of Boston occurred during the American Revolution and began April 19, 1775 and lasted until March 17, 1776. Commencing after the opening battles at  Lexington Concord,  the Siege of Boston saw the growing American army block the land approaches to Boston. During the course of the siege, the two sides clashed at the bloody Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775. The stalemate around the city also saw the arrival of two commanders who would play a central role in the conflict over the next three years:  General George Washington  and  Major General William Howe. As the fall and winter progressed, neither side proved able to gain an advantage. This changed in early 1776 when artillery captured at Fort Ticonderoga arrived in the American lines. Mounted on Dorchester Heights, the guns compelled Howe to abandon the city. Background In the wake of the Battles of Lexington Concord on April 19, 1775, American colonial forces continued to attack British troops as they attempted to withdraw back to Boston. Though aided by reinforcements led by Brigadier General Hugh Percy, the column continued to take casualties with particularly intense fighting occurring around Menotomy and Cambridge.  Finally reaching the safety of Charlestown late in the afternoon, the British were able to gain a respite. While the British consolidated their position and recovered from the days fighting, militia units from across New England began arriving on the outskirts of Boston. Armies Commanders Americans General George WashingtonMajor General Artemas Wardup to 16,000 men British Lieutenant General Thomas GageMajor General William Howeup to 11,000 men Under Siege By morning, around 15,000 American militiamen were in place outside of the city. Initially guided by Brigadier General William Heath of the Massachusetts militia, he passed command to General Artemas Ward late on the 20th. As the American army was effectively a collection of militias, Wards control was nominal, but he succeeded in establishing a loose siege line running from Chelsea around the city to Roxbury. Emphasis was placed on blocking Boston and Charlestown Necks. Across the lines, the British commander, Lieutenant General Thomas Gage, elected not impose martial law and instead worked with the citys leaders to have private weapons surrendered in exchange for allowing those residents who desired to leave Boston to depart. The Noose Tightens Over the next several days, Wards forces were augmented by new arrivals from Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. With these troops came permission from the provisional governments of New Hampshire and Connecticut for Ward to assume command over their men. In Boston, Gage was surprised by the size and perseverance of the American forces and stated, In all their wars against the French they never showed such conduct, attention, and perseverance as they do now. In response, he began fortifying parts of the city against attack. Consolidating his forces in the city proper, Gage withdrew his men from Charlestown and erected defenses across Boston Neck. Traffic in and out of the city was briefly restricted before both sides came to an informal agreement allowing civilians to pass as long as they were unarmed. Though deprived of access to the surrounding countryside, the harbor remained open and ships of the Royal Navy, under Vice Admiral Samuel Graves, were able to supply the city. Though Graves efforts were effective, attacks by American privateers led prices for food and other necessities to rise dramatically. Lacking artillery to break the stalemate, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress dispatched Colonel Benedict Arnold to seize the guns at Fort Ticonderoga. Joining with Colonel Ethan Allens Green Mountain Boys, Arnold captured the fort on May 10. Later that month and into early June, American and British forces skirmished as Gages men attempted to capture hay and livestock from the outer islands of Boston Harbor (Map). Battle of Bunker Hill On May 25, HMS Cerberus arrived at Boston carrying Major Generals William Howe, Henry Clinton, and John Burgoyne. As the garrison had been reinforced to around 6,000 men, the new arrivals advocated for breaking out of the city and seizing Bunker Hill, above Charlestown, and Dorchester Heights south of the city. The British commanders intended to implement their plan on June 18. Learning of the British plans on June 15, the Americans quickly moved to occupy both locations. To the north, Colonel William Prescott and 1,200 men marched onto the Charlestown Peninsula on the evening of June 16.  After some debate among his subordinates, Prescott directed that a redoubt be constructed on Breeds Hill rather than Bunker Hill as originally intended. Work commenced and continued through the night with Prescott also ordering a breastwork to be built extending down the hill to the northeast. Spotting the Americans works the next morning, British warships opened fire with little effect. In Boston, Gage met with his commanders to discuss options. After taking six hours to organize an assault force, Howe led British forces over to Charlestown and attacked on the afternoon of June 17. Repelling two large British assaults, Prescotts men stood firm and were only forced to retreat when they ran out of ammunition. In the fighting, Howes troops suffered over 1,000 casualties while the Americans sustained around 450. The high cost of victory at the Battle of Bunker Hill would influence British command decisions for the remainder of the campaign. Having taken the heights, the British began work to fortify Charlestown Neck to prevent another American incursion. Building an Army While events were unfolding in Boston, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia created the Continental Army on June 14 and appointed George Washington as commander-in-chief the following day. Riding north to take command, Washington arrived outside Boston on July 3. Establishing his headquarters in Cambridge, he began molding the masses of colonial troops into an army. Creating badges of rank and uniform codes, Washington also began creating a logistical network to support his men. In an attempt to bring structure to the army, he divided it into three wings each led by a major general. The left wing, led by Major General Charles Lee was tasked with guarding the exits from Charlestown, while Major General Israel Putnams center wing was established near Cambridge. The right wing at Roxbury, led by Major General Artemas Ward, was the largest and was to cover Boston Neck as well as Dorchester Heights to the east. Through the summer, Washington worked to expand and reinforce the American lines. He was supported by the arrival of riflemen from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. Possessing accurate, long range weapons, these sharpshooters were employed in harassing the British lines. Next Steps On the night of August 30, British forces launched a raid against Roxbury, while American troops successfully destroyed the lighthouse on Lighthouse Island. Learning in September that the British did not intend to attack until reinforced, Washington dispatched 1,100 men under Arnold to conduct an invasion of Canada. He also began planning for an amphibious assault against the city as he feared his army would break up with the arrival of winter. After discussions with his senior commanders, Washington agreed to postpone the attack. As the stalemate pressed on, the British continued local raiding for food and stores. In November, Washington was presented a plan by Henry Knox for transporting Ticonderogas guns to Boston. Impressed, he appointed Knox a colonel and sent him to the fort. On November 29, an armed American ship succeeded in capturing the British brigantine Nancy outside of Boston Harbor. Loaded with munitions, it provided Washington with much needed gunpowder and arms. In Boston, the situation for the British changed in October when Gage was relieved in favor of Howe. Though reinforced to around 11,000 men, he was chronically short on supplies. The Siege Ends As winter set in, Washingtons fears began to come true as his army was reduced to around 9,000 through desertions and expiring enlistments. His situation improved on January 26, 1776 when Knox arrived in Cambridge with 59 guns from Ticonderoga. Approaching his commanders in February, Washington proposed an attack on the city by moving over the frozen Back Bay, but was instead convinced to wait. Instead, he formulated a plan to drive the British from the city by emplacing guns on Dorchester Heights. Assigning several of Knoxs guns to Cambridge and Roxbury, Washington began a diversionary bombardment of the British lines on the night of March 2. On the night of March 4/5, American troops moved guns to Dorchester Heights from which they could strike the city and the British ships in the harbor. Seeing the American fortifications on the heights in the morning, Howe initially made plans for assaulting the position. This was prevented by a snowstorm late in the day. Unable to attack, Howe reconsidered his plan and elected to withdraw rather than have a repeat of Bunker Hill. The British Depart On March 8, Washington received word that the British intended to evacuate and would not burn the city if allowed to leave unmolested. Though he did not formally respond, Washington agreed to the terms and British began embarking along with numerous Boston Loyalists. On March 17, the British departed for Halifax, Nova Scotia and American forces entered the city. Having been taken after an eleven-month siege, Boston remained in American hands for the remainder of the war.